Surge arresters used in distribution systems can fail and explode violently in certain conditions creating serious hazards for linemen and others. Attempts have been made to reduce such hazards by improving the overall quality of arrester design, by developing shatter-proof housings for the arresters, and by devising switches for cutting off the fault current through an arrester so as to prevent its explosion. The present invention is based on the last of these possible approaches to the problem.